In continuation to ‘Perceive the Pattern’, I conducted the exercise of looking into each problem and tackling it one at a time. The very first challenge I encountered was the lack of sufficient resources.

Budget. Time. Talent. The lack of these key resources was the first problem I identified, obviously. And I am sure any marketing manager continues to survive in the absence of one or all of these resources.

I can’t begin to express my frustrations when faced with the limitations of these resources. Sometimes, there is an excess of one and absence of the other. That is a true pencil (or something) breaking moment.

The lack of sufficient resources.

True. There may be a lack of budgets, time or talent. Worse still, all three.

But resourcefulness is always available in abundance. And it takes the right attitude to harness its unlimited power.

I have faced several instances where I have been advised that we lack the budgets. When I meet with service providers, their sales pitch includes scaling up the limited budget. Somehow many people have accepted the fact that more spends equal more mileage. It is mind-boggling how many believe and preach this myth.

If there is too much time on our hands, the to and fro approval dance begins. With changes, over changes, over oh-so-many changes. But the lack of time translates to last-minute creatives which no one is happy with but still have to run with. Like there isn’t enough pressure in life.

The same goes for talent too. There is either too much of it for the simple minded manager to comprehend with or just the lack of it. We get creatives from Picassos, which rightly belong in an art gallery. Or we get creatives that would just render one speechless.

My answer to this is ATTITUDE.

With a can-do mindset and the right attitude. I can make my resources work. It isn’t easy, but it’s not impossible either.

For low budgets, get more bang per buck.

For time issues, better time management.

For talent, precise briefs which don’t isolate other members of the team or agency.

I could hardly believe that for a challenge so severe the solution could be that simple. In fact, acknowledging the challenge and changing my outlook towards it helped me get past to the next level. And quite literally too.